On Eurogamer and Visiting 22Cans

Some of you may be aware that I went to Eurogamer on Thursday and then went to visit everyone at 22Cans on Friday before coming home.

Eurogamer was pretty good. It was the very first gaming convention that I have ever attended and so I was pretty excited about being there. The vast majority of the day was spent chatting with my fellow students and the tutors at the Train2Game room in the press area of the Industry Fair. I learned quite a bit and got some great feedback on the game I am currently designing.

The games on show weren't very exciting, in my opinion. The triple A games were mostly cookie cutter games (e.g. "Football Game 14" and "Racing Game 6" and "Go Kill People 7"), which is great for the fanboys/girls but extremely boring and samey and not at all exciting. The vast majority of the interesting games were in the indie area. Sir You Are Being Hunted, Off Grid, Dream and Murdered Soul Suspect were the three games which piqued my interest the most in the entire convention.

I also had a nice chat with the people at SpecialEffect, a gaming charity which helps disabled kids to be able to play games, about a game idea I have. They liked the idea and invited me to send them a game concept when I get one working.

 My visit to 22Cans studio was very fun. Everyone there is really nice and they all made me feel very welcome. Unfortunately, the coffee machine was broken (again) so I didn't get to try "the best coffee in the world". Luckily though they did have a cafetière, which Sam was kind enough to fix coffee in (twice) and it was very good. I got to play the 1.3 build and have to say that the changes they've made are really good and are comprised of some suggestions from the backers and beta players. The wait for the update will be well worth it!

Now, most people, when attending a game convention, will buy prints, t-shirts, posters and so forth. And most people, when going to a gaming studio, will ask everyone for their autographs and take loads of pictures. Well, I'm not most people. For starters I didn't buy anything at Eurogamer. In addition to that, I didn't take any photos of the 22Cans studio or ask any of the devs for their autographs. What I did do, however, was notice an oak tree not too far from the studio. I spent 5 minutes walking around said tree until I found an acorn which was unblemished, not cracked, and still had it's cap attached.

This is the acorn. And I am such a huge geek.

1GAM Month 1 Feature #2

 

Shapes by BeigeTurner

This weeks One Game A Month feature is Shapes by BeigeTurner. This game was chosen randomly from the uploaded games on the 1GAM website.

Shapes is a simple shape-sorting game aimed at very young children in which you drag shapes to their corresponding holes with the mouse.  The graphics are simple but colourful and the game-play is easily self taught.

In total there are 4 levels with the shapes getting slightly more complex as you progress. If you drag a shape to the incorrect hole, it is flung back onto the board and you get another try.

Overall the game is fun and educational, though I feel adding sound effects and music would add to the appeal and hold the interest of the target audience longer.

As always, if you would like a review of your game here, simply at mention me (https://twitter.com/MuirDH) with a link before Tuesday the 15th! First person to do so gets the feature!